To love an Orca or a Whale Shark
by Kaitanya
Summary: Kaita had grown up in Iwatobi but an accident almost cost her a career in diving. Can she over come the fear of diving in Tokyo or does the answer lie in Iwatobi? Who will capture her heart and set her free? Will it be Makoto, the gentle boy who she grew up with, or Sousuke, the one who started her on her path to recovery?
1. Chapter 1: The Fall

The sound of water splashing onto the hard surface and making waves as solid bodies made their way through the liquid mass, echoed throughout the Iwatobi swim club. Cheers came from the small children who sat on the sidelines, as they watched their teammate's race against other swim teams from another nearby swim clubs.

"Go, go Haruka!"

"Go, go Rin!"

The water finally stilled when the race finished. Even though some had lost the race, they all had smiling faces. Four small children came up to Haruka and Rin making their way through the gathered spectators. One of the small children was a little girl with sleek brown hair that ended at her shoulders and big brown eyes. She too was in a swim suit as she followed behind the young Nagisa and Makoto.

"Amazing as ever you two." The young girl smiled at the Haruka and Rin as they dried off.

"Thanks Kaita-chan. It wasn't much of a race though. Haruka and I are on a way different level from the rest." Rin puffed out his chest as he declared proudly.

Haruka kept an uninterested look on his face like he always does. Nagisa patted him and Rin on the back with joy. While Makoto smiled contently at the two, he then turned to Kaita.

"Shouldn't you be warming up for your dive Kaita- chan?"

Kaita turned to face Makoto. "I already did…."

Nagisa interjected enthusiastically. "She barely needs to warm up Mako-chan. Kaita-chan is amazing every time."

Everyone nodded in agreement to what Nagisa said, but Makoto smiled weakly then shrugged his shoulders. "Well it's up to you Kaita-chan. Just don't get upset when Goro- sensei gets mad at you."

"Don't worry about me. You all should sit back and watch my amazing dive." A smile lit up Kaita's face as she declared. Then Goro-sensei came up to the group of young kids.

"Alright everyone that's enough talk. Kaita it's almost your turn to dive, you're the last one to dive. Go over to the platforms now and wait to be called up." Kaita nodded and went over to the small diving platforms, Goro- Sensei trailing behind her. She looked up to the big platforms that towered over her.

"One of these days I'll be diving from up there." Kaita pointed at the ten meter platforms. Goro- sensei chuckled. "Just continue to get better and you'll be doing amazing things from up on those high platforms."

She smiled at Goro-sensei and then slapped her cheeks to get pumped up. Kaita made her way step by step up the small ladder onto the three meter platform. Her legs a little shaky, the cheers of her club mates and those of proud parents echoed throughout the building. Kaita then looked over at her friends and saw that Makoto was telling everyone something and pointed at Kaita. Smiles brimmed from her friends faces as they cupped their hands around their mouths and started to yell.

"You can do it Kaita."

"Show them that you're the best."

"Go for it Kaita."

The young girl nodded in her friend's direction with appreciation. She took a deep breath and started to run to the edge of the plat form. Jumping once, twice and then doing a forward double rotation pike into the water with ease. A loud cheer broke out as Kaita made it back to the surface. She got of the pool with Goro-sensei's help. He turned her around to look at her score, her shoulders shaking, Kaita couldn't believe it. It was a perfect score.

"I….no way….I got first place?!"

Kaita stood still in place next to the pool as her friends came up to her to congratulate her. Smiles were on everyone's face. Makoto placed a hand on Kaita's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Great job Kaita. Amazing as always."

A light tinge of red made its way across Kaita's face. She was overjoyed to have Makoto praise her. Rin then cleared his throat, "He's not the only one here you know."

Everyone burst out laughing. Nagisa then hugged Kaita very enthusiastically. Kaita lost her balance and the two fell into the water, Rin and Makoto fell in as well trying to prevent the two from falling in. Everyone looked back to see Haruka shaking his head in dismay. They all got out of the pool and went to get changed. The five of them continued to laugh cheerfully as they walked out of the Iwatobi Swim Club.

Everything between the five of them seemed to be going well but Rin later went away to Australia and Haruka seemed like a different person. The swim club later proceeded to be shut down. Nagisa went to a different middle school than Kaita, Makoto and Haruka. The group rarely got to hang out as much as they did before.

"Hey Kaita-chan!" Makoto came rushing up to Kaita with Haruka slowly walking behind him.

"Oh hey Makoto, Haruka. How you've been?"

"Good. We could ask you the same thing. We haven't seen each other much since entering middle school…." Makoto trailed off when he saw that Kaita had a gym bag along with her school bag. "Are you going somewhere Kaita?"

"Oh yeah, I am on my way to the swim club nearby. Even though Iwatobi closed down I haven't stopped diving. Today is a warm-up to the grand showcase this weekend. You guys can come and watch if you like."

"That sounds cool. I'm glad you kept diving. We should go and see her practice Haruka." Haruka let out a sigh and looked unpleased. Never the less the two boys followed Kaita to the swim club to watch her diving practice.

"You guys can watch from over there. I'll let my coach know that you guys are here so he won't get mad at you. I'll see you guys in a little bit." Kaita went off to talk to an elderly man that just smiled and nodded when Kaita pointed back towards Makoto and Haruka. She then left to the locker room only to emerge moments later in her swim wear. A girl around the same age as the trio sat nearby Makoto and Haruka with a group of girls.

"Looks like Ms. Prodigy is going to start practicing." Makoto looked over at the girls then turned his attention back to Kaita who was making her way up to the 10m platform. He then saw another girl follow behind her.

"That's odd."

"What is it Makoto?"

"Haruka, isn't there only supposed to be one diver on the platform at a time?"

Haruka shook his head in agreement. The group of girls nearby giggled when they pointed out "Hana" was trailing Kaita.

"Looks like Hana is fed up with Kaita now."

"Hana was our number one until Kaita showed up. It's about time she was put in her place."

The girl Hana waited on the ladder until Kaita was more towards the end of the platform before going behind her. Since the platform was long she went at Kaita at a dash, but not directly at her.

"This will teach you to take the number one spot from me."

In a split second Kaita turned around to see Hana running at her at the edge of the platform. Hana dove off to the side a little leaving Kaita off balance on the platforms edge. Kaita couldn't keep her footing and fell towards the water.

"KAITAAAAA!" Makoto, Haruka and even the group of mean girls got up from their seats and rushed down to the poolside. The coach was already on the phone with 911. Kaita hadn't surfaced yet. Hana got out of the pool and sat on the bench to dry off. The coach went up to her and yelled at her.

"What do you think you were doing?! You know the rules. One diver at a time, plus why would you even do such a thing. The showcase is only a few days away." Anger and anguish plague at the elderly coach's words, Hana just simply shrugged. "It's one less diving performance. Who cares?"

By this time Makoto and Haruka had jumped into the water during the argument. Makoto was the first to come back up, Haruka followed with Kaita in his arms. The two wadded over to the side of the pool. The coach came running to help Kaita out.

"Kaita are you alright? Can you hear me?" Kaita's eyes fluttered but she was unresponsive. The ambulance arrived within minutes, the medics assessed Kaita's condition. They wore a grim expression as they loaded her onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

"Will she be alright?" The coach was emotional, he didn't know what to tell her parents.

The medic looked at the coach before closing the back door. "It's best to tell her parents to meet us at the hospital."

The coach nodded and began dialing Kaita's mother. Makoto and Haruka watched the ambulance pull away and rush down the street toward the hospital. The group of girls and Hana came out of the Swim club, fear had settled in their eyes. Hana was the only one that looked even more distraught than the others.

"I…. I didn't mean to…."


	2. Chapter 2: Recovery in a new home

Kaita faded in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital and inside the examination room. The doctors finally checked her state of wellbeing before slipping her into unconsciousness. The sounds of the medical instruments drowned out all other noise that Kaita heard before she was plunged into complete darkness.

"Coach, what the heck happened at practice?" Kaita's parents burst into the waiting room and confronted the coach. The nurses and some of the doctors that were passing restrained Kaita's father who was in tears lunged at the coach out of anguish wanting to know why his daughter ended up in the hospital.

"Dear please, let him speak first. You're making everyone here anxious." Kaita's father looked around and sighed before stepping away from the coach. He was about to speak when the other girls from the club came into the waiting room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Raimon, it's not the coach's fault. It was mine." Hana spoke with regret in her voice as she stood before the saddened parents. Kaita's mother put a hand on the girl's shoulder and peered into her eyes. "Now why is it your fault sweetie?"

"I became jealous of her skills and talent that I finally had enough and just wanted to play a joke on her but she was too close to the edge of the platform and she fell off balance from there. I didn't mean for her to be seriously injured like this." Hana balled her hands into fists and tears streamed down from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

Kaita's mother patted the girl on the head. "What you did was wrong yes, but this was simply an accident with consequences that could not be determined. Please don't let this affect you too much." The mother's voice began to waver, she knew she should have been more stern with the girl but she could not bring herself to do it since she knew Kaita herself once told her that she looked up to each of the girls at the swim club and learned from them through the skills they showed at practice.

"Mrs. Raimon!" Makoto and Haruka came running into the waiting room. "How's Kaita doing?" Mrs. Raimon shook her head, "The doctor hasn't come out yet." As if on cue, the doctor and a few nurses came out of the emergency room. Grim looks plastered on their faces. "Are you the parents of Kaita Raimon?" Both Mr. and Mrs. Raimon nodded their heads as they drew closer to the doctor leaving behind Makoto and the group from the swim club.

"I can't say all of it is good. Your daughter has a severe injury to her trapezius. This muscle is what helps support the movement of the scapula and the arms."

"So your saying she'll never dive again?!" The doctor shook his head. "If we were to treat her here for some time, it would be a no. But with your consent we could have her transferred immediately to a hospital in Tokyo that deals with these sort of injuries. People who are treated there are able to regain full motor skills after foregoing through surgery." Mrs. Raimon covered her mouth at the mention of surgery in order to regain movement of her arms and head. "Honey….for Kaita's sake we must do this." Mrs. Raimon looked into his wife's eyes and simply nodded. "I understand. Doctor please transfer her to Tokyo. Dear I'll call my sister, she still lives in Tokyo. She'll be able to take care of her while she's there. Even though I want to go with her as much as you do but we can't just leave Iwatobi. You have the flower shop and I the bakery. Without us everything would go bankrupt and we wouldn't be able to pay for her hospital expenses." Kaita's mother sighed and nodded, "Alright, let Keiko know that our daughter is in her care."

With that, the arrangements were made with the hospital in Tokyo and Keiko was notified that Kaita would be transferred. Within the next few days Kaita was in a hospital room in Tokyo still unconscious but slightly responsive. Keiko had come to check on her niece as soon as she arrived to the hospital. She had even gone out and bought some trinkets that Kaita had liked in the past, hoping that when she opened her eyes she would smile.

"Hey Kaita, it's your Keiko checking in on you again. How you feeling?"

Keiko wandered to a nearby chair and watched Kaita's breathing pattern knowing that she wouldn't get a response since Kaita was still unconscious. The only response she got was from the medical instruments beeping in unison.

Soon thereafter the doctor came in to check on Kaita and make sure that everything was checking out okay. The nurses that also came in asked Keiko if she needed anything, but Keiko refused anything and said she was alright.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to prep Kaita for her move to the surgery room. The faster we get the procedure done the better chances she has at recovering and being able to dive again." Keiko simply nodded at the doctor's words and watched him and the nurses leave. She went over the Kaita's bedside and fluffed her pillow a bit.

"You can pull through this, I know you can. Your parents and I are waiting for you, we want to see you on those platforms again and showing us brilliant tricks that makes everyone cheer." Keiko grasped Kaita's hand and gave it a slight squeeze, she didn't expect Kaita to squeeze back, in which she did. Kaita squeezed Keiko's hand back but very weakly, this made Keiko gasp and started to call Kaita's name.

"Kaita, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand again if you can?" But her questions went unanswered. Kaita didn't squeeze Keiko's hand again. The nurses came back into the room once more and took Kaita down to surgery, which was the last time Keiko saw Kaita that night. She left to go back to her apartment and called her brother about what she had experienced before Kaita was taken off to surgery.

"I asked her to squeeze my hand again but she didn't respond. The nurses told me before I left that the surgery would take a couple of hours seeing that it is a delicate procedure to do. I'll check on her first thing in the morning, okay big brother?"

"Yes, thank you Keiko. Mimiko and I are just so worried and upset we can't be there with her. Please take care of her while she's there."

"You can count on me. Tell Mimiko I said hello." With that the conversation ended and Keiko went to bed thinking of how her brother must feel about being away from his daughter at a crucial time like this. She recalled Kaita's happy face as a child, being in the water and jumping off the diving platforms.

"You'll be able to be happy like that again Kaita, I just know it." Keiko drifted off to sleep with those words lingering about in the small apartment. The next month surely came but with a surprise, Kaita had finally awoken from her medical induced coma. The doctors explained to Keiko that the surgery was a success and that they would be bringing Kaita out of her coma bit by bit. Kaita sat with a distant look as she stared at the wall, she could hear he aunt's voice talking with the doctor and nurses but she felt that something was missing. Keiko returned to the room with a smile and sat beside Kaita.

"The doctor told me that you'll be on the fast track to recovery soon. He also said that it would be best if you remained in Tokyo during your recovery period."

"What do you mean in Tokyo?" Kaita had blocked everything out until she paid close attention to the sounds outside of the hospital. It was the constant hustle bustle that you would expect form a big city. "Why am I here?"

"The doctor at the hospital in Iwatobi thought it would be best to transfer you to a hospital in Tokyo because of the resources they have for major injuries, like the one you sustained. Your parents agreed in your best interest, so while in Tokyo I'm taking care of you."

Kaita was taken aback, her inner thoughts were still in confusion but she soon realized that her injury could have been even worse. Keiko put a hand on Kaita's shoulder, "Don't worry I'm sure that you'll be back to diving in no time. You just have to take it easy for now." Kaita nodded her head and laid back in the bed.

"Would I have to go to school here? I mean I just started middle school in Iwatobi and now I'm in Tokyo."

"You'll have to talk to your parents about that. It would be best to stay here in Tokyo for the time being but it's up to you if you want to go back now or recover here where the doctors can keep an eye on you."

"Let me think about it."

The days went by and slowly Kaita could move around for short periods of time in the hospital, then came the weight lifting. When she felt comfortable with certain weights the nurses would add more to gradually improve her upper body strength. The doctor even suggest that Kaita do some aquatic therapy so as to regain her comfort in the water. Though Kaita didn't show it to the nurses and Aunt Keiko, she somehow developed the slight fear of the water. Even trying to swim under water brought back the trauma of her injury, but she pushed herself to try and get over it. By the time two months passed Kaita was released from the hospital and stayed in Tokyo with Aunt Keiko under orders from the doctor so as to monitor her just in case. Keiko helped Kaita enroll into a middle school in Tokyo during her stay so as to not fall behind in her studies.

Kaita slowly adjusted to her new life in Tokyo, even though she missed her friends she made new ones. Her new friend Yuiko Tatsumi befriend Kaita her first day to middle school in Tokyo and offered to show her around. They passed by all the club rooms and made their way to the outside clubs, there last stop was the swimming pool. The swim team was mainly made up of boys but a handful of them each practiced a specific stroke. There was one boy that caught Kaita's attention due to his speed in the water, he was performing the butterfly stroke. Yuiko caught Kaita staring at the boy and smirked a little, she nudged Kaita with her elbow.

"What you already found a crush?" Yuiko teased Kaita, which made Kaita start to blush and stammer in response.

"No I do not! It's just that his form when he swims in so cool, that's all." Kaita turned away with a light pink blush on her cheeks. When she looked slightly towards the swim team her eyes locked with that of the boy she was staring at earlier, Kaita half ran away with Yuiko in tow. With one glance back Kaita saw the boy watch her leave, if she had looked closely she would have seen his face with a light pink tint on his face. He had overheard her comment about his swimming style being cool.

"Wahhaaa Kaita you're going to pull my arm off. Slow down!"

Kaita finally came to a stop in a hallway near the school auditorium. She put her hand to her chest to feel her heart racing, she didn't know if it was from the running or from the boy looking at her. Yuiko tried to catch her breath as well, she looked at Kaita and let out a small sigh.

"You didn't have to run away like that. Jeez I thought my arm would rip off."

"Sorry about that Yuiko. I just got so flustered that my legs moved on their own."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry I know that feeling, every girl does. Plus I think Yamazaki would have done that same thing. As soon as you said that his swim style was cool Yamazaki was already out of the water." Yuiko couldn't help but snicker at Kaita's reaction, she seemed like a deer caught in headlights.

"Aw man, how embarrassing. But…I couldn't help commenting… you see it's been awhile since I've last seen anyone swimming, let alone I myself swim."

Yuiko looked stunned. She hadn't expected Kaita to be a swimmer. "Are you serious? You swim like the swim team back there?" Yuiko gestured behind her where the pool was. Kaita only nodded her head as she looked down at the ground. "That's amazing! I've never seen any female swimmers before. What kind of style did you have?"

"Well I could do breast stroke, but I was more of a diver."

"A diver? You mean you would jump off those high platforms?" Yuiko's mouth started to gap open. She couldn't understand how anyone would be able to jump off from such a high place…well she herself couldn't do it since she has a fear of heights.

"Yes a diver, those crazy people who jump into the water from that high place." Kaita giggled a little at Yuiko's reaction. "But that's all in the past. I don't dive anymore."

"Why not? Did something make you give it up?"

"Something like that. You see I used to live in Iwatobi, but now I live here. The reason why I live in Tokyo now is because I was transferred here for a surgery." A clear gasp came from Yuiko. "I was at diving practice one day and a girl on my team came up behind me while I was at the edge of the platform ready to do make dive. She basically rushed me, she dove off to the side of me into the water below, but since I was at the edge caught off guard I lost balance and fell into the water. Being in my unbalanced state I couldn't recover to land in that water safely and I ended up with a major injury to my trapezius and upper spinal region."

"Oh my, that's terrible. But you're okay now right?"

"Yeah I went through a lot of physical therapy but I'm much better." Kaita put on a smile so as to not worry Yuiko. "Well I better get going my Aunt Keiko is probably waiting for me at home." Kaita waved goodbye to Yuiko and went on her way home, Yuiko did the same.

Once home at Aunt Keiko's house Kaita was immediately engulfed into a hug. "Welcome back Kaita!" Kaita couldn't help but smile at her aunt's cheery nature. "How was school?"

"It was good. I made a new friend, her name is Yuiko Tatsumi. She showed me around school and showed me the clubs that the school offers. We even stopped by to see the swim club practicing."

"Oh that sounds interesting. Meet any cute boys?" Keiko liked to tease her niece about the small things. She saw that Kaita was blushing a little by just asking her about boys.

"N..no! Why would you even ask that?"

"Oh come on. Your face tells it all. Something happened at school today didn't?"

"Yes but I didn't really meet him." Kaita covered her mouth a little too late.

"Alright spill it. What happened?"

Kaita let out a deep sigh then told her aunt the whole fiasco of what she commented on while watching the boys swim club practice. As she told her aunt what happened she couldn't help but blush again.

"Soooo you basically commented on his butterfly style. That's not something to get worked up about."

"You don't understand. He heard me as soon as he got out of the water. It's so embarrassing to even tell you."

"Well how about this, you me go a local swim club this weekend so that you can get back to doing some exercise in the water to keep strengthening your muscles."

"Yeah that sounds good." Kaita smiled cheerfully as she went to her room and change out of her uniform. A couple of days later Keiko fulfilled her promise to Kaita and took her to a local swim club in Tokyo.

"Well here we are. Let's go get changed and we can get right to those exercises." The pool wasn't as crowded as Kaita thought it would be seeing as how it was the weekend. There was plenty of space to swim freely. While Kaita was doing her exercises with Aunt Keiko she failed to notice a boy walk into the pool area. It happened to be the same boy she had commented on about his butterfly style. He saw Kaita get into the pool but the young boy noticed that she had some sort of light scar down the top of her neck area. He dismissed the thought of going up to her since he didn't know her that well since she just transferred into the school.

"Alright now Kaita try to slowly circulate your arms towards the front. That's it good, just take it nice and slow." Kaita did her best at the exercise but it seemed that when her Aunt had her try to breaststrokes the pain she thought that she didn't have would flare back up so she quickly surfaced.

"Are you alright Kaita?"

"Yeah, just a little relapse that's all." Keiko looked at Kaita with worry but decide not to press her further until she wants to tell her what's wrong. The young boy was nearby in a lane practicing when he saw Kaita rush back to the surface.

"I wonder what's wrong with her." The boy watched Kaita to see what else he could distinguish about what was wrong with her. Keiko decided it was best to take a break but that Kaita relax in the water.

"You stay there, I'll go get us some waters. Don't go anywhere alright. Oh and don't try to go onto the diving platforms just yet. Remember the doctor said it would be awhile until you were ready to dive again." The young boy heard what Keiko had said to Kaita. "_So she's a diver. But would have caused her to stay away from diving?_" The young continued to think to himself until his eye caught that Kaita wasn't were she was earlier, he searched the area around the pool then saw her near the very platforms her Aunt told her to stay away from. The young boy got out of the pool and went near the platforms but enough not to be seen by Kaita. He kept an eye on her but then Kaita moved onto the lowest platform, she slowly crept towards the edge that was when her Aunt Keiko came back with two water bottles.

"KAITAAA!" The sudden yell made Kaita jump and made her fall into the water. Keiko rushed over quickly. She was about to jump in to bring Kaita back closer to the edge of the pool but the young boy was quicker than the thirty-odd some year old lady. He ducked under the water's surface and swam to Kaita who looked like she was in pain and sinking further towards the bottom. Kaita could barely make out who was coming to her rescue but she reached out to them as she felt herself drift towards unconsciousness. The boy grabbed Kaita's hand and jerked her towards him and he hoisted her to the surface as fast as she could. He made his way to the edge of the pool where Keiko and some of the other adults stood by and hoisted Kaita out of the water. Kaita coughed up some water and looked weakly at her aunt, Keiko embraced Kaita.

"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me? You could've drowned! You know that you're supposed to take it easy. If it weren't for this young man here who knows what would have happened."

Kaita followed Aunt Keiko's lline of sight as she gestured to the boy getting out of the pool walking over to her. Kaita's face started to burn pink as soon as she realized who it was. "_What's he doing here? Oh how embarrassing!_"

The young boy put his hand on Kaita's head and pat it like he would be consoling a crying child. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Thank you young man for saving my niece."

The young boy expected Keiko to so daughter but dismissed it, "No problem. My name is Sousuke Yamazaki. I actually go to school with your niece." Keiko was a bit taken aback until she realized that this boy may be the boy Kaita told her about.

"Oh, then thank you for looking after her while you're at school. By chance are you in the swim club?" Sousuke nodded and a slight grin appeared on Keiko's face. "I see…I look forward to seeing you and Kaita get along. Thank you again for your help. Kaita shouldn't you be thanking him too?"

"Thanks Yamazaki-kun." Kaita couldn't look Sousuke in the eyes but he understood that she was just shy. Keiko looked at the two then thought of something. She put her hands on Kaita's shoulders and looked at Sousuke.

"Yamazaki-kun since you go to the same school as Kaita, can I ask you for a favor?" By now any bystanders had left to resume their activities. Keiko smiled at Sousuke but her eyes pleading that he say yes.

"Sure, but what is it?"

"You see Kaita was in an accident a few months ago and I can't be with her all the time, especially when she's at school. So I was wondering if you could look out for her while you're at school together. It would mean so much to me if you could."

Sousuke couldn't help but smile. "I wouldn't mind. Plus I think to make matters simpler she's in my class too so it would be easy to look after her."

"You two are making me sound like a child being left at a daycare." Kaita puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Sousuke poked her cheeks.

"Well if you look like that who wouldn't want to tease you a bit." Sousuke grinned at Kaita which made her blush. "You have a deal umm…"

"Oh that's right I haven't told you my name, Its Keiko Raimon and this here is my niece Kaita Raimon."

"Nice to meet you Ms. Keiko." The three smiled at each other as they continued to talk amongst themselves. Kaita had calmed down enough to go back into the water and Sousuke suck by close watching the exercises Keiko did with Kaita to take note just in case he were to help out in the later future.


End file.
